More

Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Ousted

A voter heads into a polling station to cast his vote during the midterm elections November 7, 2006 in Miami, Florida. Republican control of Congress is in the balance today as voters cast their ballots across the nation. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Garcia was challenged by Carlos Lopez-Cantera, the outgoing majority leader of the state House of Representatives.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Lopez-Cantera was leading with 51 percent of the vote to Garcia’s 49 percent.

Garcia became Miami-Dade’s first elected property appraiser four years ago. Prior to that, the position was appointed and not elected.

Since then, Garcia said he cut more than $60 billion off property values and is taking claim for a recent uptick in identifying homestead exemption fraud.

Lopez-Cantera slammed the incumbent for not including foreclosures in the tallying of countywide property values, and says the only reason Garcia is now going after the homestead-exemption fraud is because Lopez-Cantera raised the issue.

The appraiser’s office determines how much each of the county’s more than 890,000 properties, both commercial and residential, are worth.

The property appraiser’s office oversees a 371-person office with an annual budget of more than $30 million.